I was planning on a grow tent to be 5x5 with 2 600 watts. I hear the space should be 50 watts per square(optimal) foot so with 25 I get 48 per square with 1200 watts. Do you guys think this is a good idea?
is that it? I can almost ensure proper air flow, humidity and temperature but I hear some people using 2 600 watts for 4 x 8 space but thats far below the 50 watt per square foot. I just want to verify with others is this the proper growing conditions in terms of wattage and space?
Plants in seedling and clone stage require about 400-500 lumens per square foot. In vegetative growth they require about 2,500 lumens per square foot and in flowering, they require about 10,000 lumens per square foot. It is better to think in these terms as watts will only tell you the amount of power being used. Also remember Light output divided by ditance squared = lumens You can grow with less light but it will affect both yield and density.
so watts don't matter but lumens do. I see, MH bulbs have less lumens than the HPS. can a veg plant handle 1200 watts/w MH bulbs in a 5x5 space or is that too much light?
if you want to use 1200w i would suggest getting a 4x8 tent. I personally have one that you can look at in my outdoor grow journal I am currently only using half of my tent (4x4 area) and i have a 600w in there. Typically you want a 600w to cover a 4x4 area. If you plan on putting 1200w in a 5x5 area it can def be done. Just make sure you are using air cooled hoods or cool tubes with a high cfm fan. My suggestion would be a 450+ centrifigal fan
Like Ice said. You just need to be sure you keep all of your other factors within their limits. It's really hard to have too much light. I've personally never seen bleaching occur from artificial light but have heard it can be done.
absolutely, I was going to use a valueLine 8inch to pull in air, it its the max at 745 CFM. I'm just wondering what space is best for yield and quality? aircooled hood.
I thought I would drop my knowledge (little I have). I run 1200W. I do it in a 4x8 tent and I manage to keep the temps down having a separate cooling system (vortex 6", carbon filter, blockbuster 6" hoods) for each light. Cost a bunch but my temps never go over 81F. That said I don't think 1200W in a 5x5 is a great idea. I feel like it would get very hot. Do you not have the room for a 4x8, or do you already have the 5x5 tent? I strongly recommend a 4x8 with 2x 600W lights. Its a killer rig. And just to add, the Blockbuster 6" is a amazing reflector. They make a 8" too if you go with that size fan. Also worth noting is that a vortex 8" is a very loud fan when at 100%. Maybe you should consider running separate cooling for each hood using a smaller fan. It adds cost (2x carbon filters, 2x inline fans) but you would get more even growth I feel. Your temps will be different under each hood if you run them in series like that.
I feel that the valueLine fan is surperior, They did some test on it and it showed the the 8inch value line pulls way more air. I'll be using the 8 inch to pull two fans along with a possible active intake. I'm cool with going with a 4x8 aslong, I just heard about the 50 watt per square foot thing
The 50 watts per square foot to me causes more problems than it solves as it can encourage someone to run more lighting than their space can cool. Don't matter how good your lighting is if its so hot in your tent that you are stressing your plants. If I were you I would really look into the 4x8. I use a Secret Jardin Intense 120 and could not be happier. Really love all the spots to run ducting in that tent, as well as the ability to expand onto it if I want to later. Let me know if you need any recommendations on how to set up a 4x8!
doing a 600w hps with a high quality name brand bulb and high quality name brand ballast in a 2x4 just fine right now. i could manage 1200w in a 4x4, i would just need a little better cooling.
do you have 2 6 inch fans to cool down the 1200 watts? whats your average temp because I refuse, literally will refuse to have my temps outside of the 72 -75 temp range. Proper conditions will be met for me and I won't have anything less, that means a a good temp and good humidity.
If I could pull off the heat is a 5x5 space better than a 4x8? 8inch valueLine Fans on the two 600 hps + 6 inch valueLine intake to max out at more than 1.1k cfm(at max tho). 125 *3 = 375 of cubic feet needed to circulate out of the tent. As I researched I need to circulate the air the size of the tent 3 times every minute. if need be I can circulate 6 times the amount of space or more. Will a 5x5 space provide better lighting? In this situation if I kept the temps down and humidity stable would it be better? Just wondering guys. I don't know if the airflow is better in a 4x8 or if there just something special with more space i didn't research.
I just had a crazy idea........8inch for the fans and 8inch for intake.... that'll keep the buggers nice and happy ^^.
Here is a link with some helpful info on air flow. http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/static/articles/0606_vent.asp
I use 8" exhaust with 6" intake. I found when I had as much air coming in as going out my temps stayed higher. I believe by creating a sort of vacuum and keeping you exhaust filter placed high in the tent it works better to suck out the hot air.